Dow rises more than 150 points on trade-deal hopes, but closes well off session highs

Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images

President Donald Trump gives a thumbs-up as he speaks to the press as he walks to Marine One prior to departing from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, December 7, 2018.

President Donald Trump told Reuters on Tuesday he would he would intervene in the Justice Department’s case against a top executive at Chinese telecoms giant Huawei if it would help serve national security interests or help U.S.-Sino trade talks. Huawei is the one of the largest tech companies in China. It is also seen as a symbol of pride by the Chinese government.

Trump also said Tuesday talks between Washington and Beijing were ongoing and confirmed he would not raise tariffs on Chinese imports until he was sure about a comprehensive trade agreement.

Meanwhile, a Reuters report said Chinese state-owned companies bought at least 500,000 tons of U.S. soybeans on Wednesday.

“The market has OK news today but then we’re on to the Fed,” said Larry Benedict, CEO of The Opportunistic Trader. The Federal Reserve is expected to hike rates next week, but its outlook into 2019 is still uncertain. Benedict also said “the market is running out of time to do anything meaningful into year-end. We’re teetering around unchanged and there are only a few good trading days left.”

Wednesday’s moves come after another volatile session on Wall Street. The Dow swung more than 500 points before closing slightly lower. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also alternated between gains and losses throughout the session.